What is the mode for the variable inpatient complications in Table 2 of the Winkler et al. (2014) study? What percentage of the study participants had this complication?
The mode for the variable inpatient complications is “AMI post admission for patients admitted with UA” (Winkler et al., 2014, p. 423). 8% of study participants had this complication.
Does the distribution of inpatient complications have a single mode, or is this distribution bimodal or multimodal?
The distribution of inpatient complications does not have a single mode, and is bimodal, as there are similar values for AMI post admission (21) and transfer to ICU (17), whereas other complications occurred a lot less frequently.
As reported in Table 1, what are the three most common cardiovascular medical history events in this study, and why is it clinically important to know the frequency of these events?
The three most common cardiovascular medical history events are personal history of CAD, history of unstable angina, and previous acute myocardial infarction. Knowing the frequency of these events is clinically important as it helps to establish the ACS diagnosis.
What are the mean and median lengths of stay (LOS) for the study participants?
The mean LOS is 5.37 days and the median is 4 days.
Are the mean and median for LOS similar or different? What might this indicate about the distribution of the sample?
The values of the mean and median are significantly different: the mean is 1.37 days higher than the median number. This indicates that the sample distribution is uneven: there is a higher difference between the median and the highest length of stay than between the median and the lowest length of stay. Furthermore, this shows that there are more patients who stayed for less than 5.37 days than those who stayed longer.
What was the second most common arrhythmia in this sample?
The mode for arrhythmias experienced by the participants is PVC exceeding 50/hour. The second most common arrhythmia was non-sustained ventricular tachycardia.
Was the most common arrhythmia related to LOS? Was this result statistically significant?
The study showed significant relationship between PVC and LOS: the p-value was less than 0.0001, whereas the level of statistical significance was 0.05.
What study variables were independently predictive of the 50 premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) per hour in this study?
The independent predictors of the 50 premature ventricular contractions (PVCs) per hour in this study were old age (over 65) and history of acute myocardial infraction.
In Table 1, what race is the mode for this sample? Should these study findings be generalized to American Indians with ACS?
The mode race for this sample is white. The American Indians constituted 8 percent of the study subjects, which means that the results should not be generalized for this population and that additional studies are needed to explore ACS in American Indians.
Reference List
Winkler, C., Funk, M., Schindler, D. M., Hemsey, J. Z., Lampert, R., & Drew, B. J. (2013). Arrhythmias in patients with acute coronary syndrome in the first 24 hours of hospitalization. Heart & Lung, 42(6), 422–427.